BULLETIN 1382, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
to the standard of living than is afforded by total expenditures. 
Food, clothing, rent, furnishings, operating expense, maintenance 
of health, advancement, personal, insurance (life or health), and 
unclassified constitute the main groups of goods used. Foods in- 
clude meat, dairy products, honey, flour, meal, vegetables, and fruit 
furnished by the farm valued in so far as possible at prices half 
way between what would have been received had they been sold, 
and what would have been paid had they been bought. They in- 
clude groceries and other food products purchased at average local 
prices. 
Clothing includes all articles of wearing apparel actually pur- 
chased for all members of the farm family during the year studied. 
The value of clothing was obtained as estimates of the total costs 
of clothing for the different persons composing the family. 
Use of the farmhouse for the year is charged at 10 per cent of 
the value of the house, which value was determined by the field 
agent. This rental charge is intended to cover taxes, insurance, and 
repairs on the house and to pay G per cent on the investment. 
Furniture and furnishings include furniture proper, musical in- 
struments, pictures, floor covering, bedding, linens, tableware, uten- 
sils, and equipment for sewing, cleaning, laundry, and canning 
purchased during the year. Depreciation on furnishings in the 
home is not taken into account as an expenditure. 
Operation goods include fuel furnished by the farm, fuel, soap, 
cleansers, and matches purchased, hired help in the household, laun- 
dry sent out, and telephone charges. They include depreciation and 
operation of the automobile, where these are chargeable to house- 
hold and family use. Depreciation on the automobile is charged 
at 15 per cent of the average value of the car for the year 1919. 
Gas, oil, tires, repairs, license fees, and insurance make up the other 
automobile costs. Proportion of the total cost of the car going 
for household use was estimated when the data were obtained. 
The goods for the maintenance of health include doctor's, nurse's, 
and dentist's services, hospital charges, and medicines of all kinds 
purchased during the year. 
Advancement goods include board and lodging at high school or 
college, school and college textbooks, supplies and tuition, reading 
matter in the home, organization and club dues, sports, vacation 
trips, church support, and benevolences. 
Costs for items of a personal nature cover barber's fees, toilet ar- 
ticles, gifts, candy, and tobacco. 
Insurance includes money paid out as premiums on life, endow- 
ment, health, or accident policies during the year. In this study it 
includes also any money reported as placed in savings funds during 
the year of study. 
Unclassified costs include money paid out for burials, for cemetery 
lots, and for any purposes not specified. 
SIGNIFICANCE OF ADVANCEMENT GOODS AS AN INDEX TO 
STANDARD OF LIVING 
The distribution of expenditures for the various purposes is ac- 
cepted as a fairly satisfactory method of deciding how well families 
actually live. The most worth-while values in life grow out of the 
use of economic goods that fill cultural Avants, such as educational 
